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Wednesday, 8 August 2018

FAMILY: What are your must-have features for travelling in a car?

As a family we love going on adventures; we spend our weekends exploring new places, having picnics and enjoying quality time together. This is us all year round, we'll be that family braving the cold weather in January to have a picnic in what are usually pretty gardens. But we wouldn't be able to go on any of these adventures without our cars, for us they are an essential. We live in a small village, which only has one bus leaving to the nearest town each day, so driving is an almost everyday occurrence. However, when it comes to travelling around as a family there are some features of cars that we need, look for or aspire to have to make life that bit easier.

It's a well-known fact that when you become a parent you start having to carry around everything except the kitchen sink. Despite being a parent for over three years now I still find it astonishing quite how many things such little people need. To fit all of the entertainment, food, nappies, wipes, changes of clothes and prams/baby carriers a large boot space has to be our biggest 'must' when it comes to car travel. It becomes even more of an essential when we go on holiday and need to fit in various suitcases too. We don't have an estate car, but I can seriously see the appeal because however much boot space we have it never seems to be enough.

One I love to hate and hate to love, but the CD player is an essential in our car...simply for a bit of peace. We have a number of nursery rhyme and story CD's that Isabella and Poppy love listening to. It may not be our choice of music, but it keeps them happy and if the children are happy then everyone's happy.

Another must-have for family car travel has to be ISO-Fix fittings in the back seats, which we then attach both of the girl's cars eats to. Back in 2016 we were involved in a serious car accident when I was nine weeks pregnant with Poppy and from that day forward car safety has been of even bigger importance to us. At the time Isabella had a rear-facing car seat which had ISO-Fix and I honestly believe it saved her life because when the car flipped she was kept steady and secure. An experience I'll never forget and one that informs many decisions to this day.

One of which is ensuring we have fully comprehensive car insurance and Aviva's comprehensive car insurance covers extra aspects, such as if you had an accident that wasn't your fault with an uninsured driver (terms and conditions apply). It also covers: loss or damage to your vehicle, your liability, vehicle recovery, driving other cars, legal costs, motor injury protection and individual no claim discount, with many add-ons available as well. You also get access to the innovative Aviva Drive App, which can track your driving skills and reward your safe driving with discounts on your insurance. Should you ever be involved in a car accident, then the app's tracking information can provide valuable evidence and having that can be a weight off your shoulders. Having been involved in a crash that wasn't our fault I really wish we had had this back then!

Aviva have recently improved their app further by including an integrated dash cam, which are becoming more and more popular with drivers as they are looking to protect themselves should a crash occur. The Aviva Dash Cam records the road ahead, detect if a crash happens and automatically save the footage. You can also challenge your friends with how safely you drive and the safer you are the higher your discount on Aviva insurance. If your annual price for car insurance is between £200 - £399 and your driving score is between 7.1-10 then you can save up to 14% off your car insurance. Well worth downloading if you ask me!

What are your must-have features for family travel?

Feel free to leave a comment - I love reading every single one :)

Helen x

*Thank you Aviva for sponsoring this post. As always all opinions are my own and 100% honest.

We're buying a new car at the moment and an estate with a large boot is top of our list. We love to goaway and would love to go camping, so our current car isn't cutting it. I'd have to add air conditioning to the list, and electric windows for the rear that you can control in the front - I'm constantly getting "wind my window up/down" requests!

The boot! Without doubt although I am hoping we maybe coming out of the buggy stage soon. We go on a fair number of road trips and ever since getting two flat tyres in France we also take the tyre Weald! Xx

I totally agree with all your tips for car journeys with kids and a large boot and secure car seats are definitely must-haves! We also take some suitable snacks and water for long journeys and we're well prepared in case my 6 year old daughter is car sick!